Trip to Costco
by IRegretNothingNoMore
Summary: The brothers are out of lighters and Dean has to visit Costso, consequently bringing out some old memories.


"No way, Sammy." Dean shook his head vehemently. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's stubbornness.

"C'mon, Dean. We need more lighters since _someone_ keeps wasting them." Sam argued. Dean gave him a glare.

"Hey! You waste 'em too!" Dean accused, "Besides, it's a lot easier to throw the whole lighter in."

"Dean, I only do it because you're the one who got me into the habit in the first place." Sam snapped back. Dean smiled at the memory. Dean showing his toddler little brother how to throw the lighter into the grave in the most dramatic way, and how Sammy stared at the fire with a sort of gleeful awe.

"Damn right," Dean grinned, "but it still doesn't explain why _I_ have to be the one to go to Costco. I mean, c'mon! _Costco_?! How domestic is that?"

"Dean, we went over this. _I_ have to do research for this case, because you seriously _suck ass_ at researching," Sam explained degradingly. Now it was Dean's turn to roll his eyes. Sam opened his mouth to complain some more, but Dean held up his hands in surrender.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll go to friggin, _Costco_, and buy us so more lighters." He grabbed his shoes and began to lace them up. "Will you stop whining like a little bitch now?" Dean smirked.

"Jerk," Sam shot back as he settled down in front of his laptop. Sam tried to ignore Dean's muttering about unmanliness and normalcy, as Dean put on his coat and grabbed his keys.

Dean had to spend a good ten minutes just to find a parking space, and another five minutes to dig their Costco membership card out of the back of his baby. His hand finally latched around the scratched up plastic and he pulled it up from the crack between the seat and the door. He smiled fondly at the beat up thing. Despite what he told Sam, he loved coming here. He remembered the first time his mom had taken him, and how he had spent the entire day before begging to go with her. He remembered her laugh as his mouth gaped at the size of everything and how she let him drag her to see all the stuffed animals. He remembered her smile as he ran around and tried every single sample the store had, and how sometimes he would trick the employees into giving him a second one. Sometimes he would pretend it was a jungle or a secret fortress, and his mom would play along, whether she was a dragon or a princess, a fierce hunter or another jungle creature like him.

Dean blinked away the sudden moisture that had come to his eyes. It was the wind or something, no way Dean Winchester was crying. He stuck the card into his pocket and walked toward the store entrance, blinking and quietly chuckling to himself. When he walked through the entrance a man came to look at his membership card reminding Dean of another fond memory.

After his mother had... Well, a few years after the incident, Dad had come home from another hunt, and picked up the boys to move to the next town. Dean remembered passing by a Costco and practically crying to get Dad to take them. He remembers the look of surprise on his Dad's face when perfect-little-soldier Dean wouldn't obey his Dad's order to shut up, and just kept pleading and begging to go in. Dad had finally given in when Sammy had joined in too, eager to see what had gotten his big brother so excited.

The man looked at Dean's card and let him through with a smile. Dean grinned back remembering having to explain to Dad that he'd have to sign up for a card to get in. No way was John Winchester _ever_ going to do something so ridiculous, so _normal_, but then he had seen the look on Dean's face, and, although he had no idea what had gotten his eldest so worked up, he gave in. Dean had been so overjoyed to wander those great aisles again, but he became even happier at the sight of awe and wonder on little Sammy's face.

_You're gonna love this, Sammy!_ he had told his little brother as he grabbed Sammy's hand and ran to where the biggest and best toys were.

Dean was pulled from his reminiscing by an employee asking if he needed help finding whatever he needed. Dean shook his head and gave her honest-to-goodness genuine smile. She seemed caught off guard and smiled back, watching him as he weaved his way through the carts and stands to get to the kids section. Once there he sort of drifted, browsing the brightly colored packages. Truth was, this was the only place he felt his childhood memories hadn't been tainted by the life he led.

And it was one of the few places he remembered his Mother so clearly, like she had left this world merely a few hours ago.

Dean finally dragged himself away from his favorite sample stands and aisle, and made his way over to where they sold lighters in bulk. On the way over, a small boy accidentally rammed into his legs and lost his grip on a bright blue colored balloon. Dean caught it before it had a chance to float to the ceiling and never be seen again. He returned it to the now smiling boy and was generously thanked by the overwrought parents, who were desperately trying to keep two other toddlers from wandering off. Dean finally made it to the lighters, and picked out the cheapest box. He gave the store one last look as he waited at the checkout, then he purchased his item and was about to leave, but something caught his eye.

Dean was greeted by Sam's soft snoring when he walked into the motel room. Sam had fallen asleep leaning on the table with his laptop open in front of him and books and papers scattered around him. Dean laughed as drool slowly dripped out of the side of Sam's gaping mouth. Not missing his chance to embarrass his kid brother, Dean snapped a photo before he shook Sam awake. Sam awoke with a start and coughed as he regained some dignity.

"So, uh. How was Costco?" Sam smirked as he began cleaning up his papers. Dean rolled his eyes, and pretended to look traumatized.

"Terrible, Sammy. Way too "white fence" for my taste," he complained.

Sam smiled and took the box from Dean. Then he noticed Dean kept one arm behind his back.

"What's that?" Sam questioned. Dean pulled out a small plastic container. Inside was a piece of blackberry pie. Sam's face split into a huge smile.

"My favorite. Thanks, Dean." he grinned as he took the pie and plastic fork offered to him. Dean rolled his eyes affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah. Just no chick flick moments, okay?" he teased his younger sibling. Sam pretended to look offended. Then he grew serious.

"Do you want some?" he offered. Dean shook his head. He watched Sam, and thought of one final memory, his favorite by far, at the end of Sam's first visit to the store, Dean had snuck out of Dad's sight and bought a piece of pie. Sammy's face has lit up when he had brought it back to give to him, and his smile was the biggest Dean had ever seen. Although he had offer Dean some, Dean couldn't deny his brother even one bite and chose to merely watch contentedly.

Sam finally finished off the pie, and thanked him for it.


End file.
